Air cleaning magnetic attachment for a welder&#39;s face mask

ABSTRACT

A section of flexible magnetic sheet material is bonded to the inner surface of a welder&#39;s face mask in that area below and on either side of an eye protective lens covered opening of a welder&#39;s face mask.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to welder's eye shields and face masks andmore particularly to a magnetic attachment therefor for protecting thelungs from inhalation of minute metallic particles.

Welder's eye shields and face masks presently in use comprise a panelportion extending at least the full length of the welder's face with thepanel having a lens covered opening for shielding the eyes from infraredand ultraviolet rays generated by the welding action. Side members,integrally connected with the face panel, are pivotally connected toopposing sides of a headgear supporting the face mask on the welder'shead in a manner to easily pivot the face mask from a face shieldingposition to an upward out-of-the-way position for inspecting the workbefore and after the welding action. The face mask is normallymaintained in close spaced relation with respect to the welder's noseand mouth but does not have provision for preventing inhalation of airentrained metallic particles in the air breathed by the welder during awelding operation.

2. Description of the Prior Art

The most pertinent prior patent is believed U.S. Pat. No. 233,891 whichdiscloses an earpiece supported nose guard bridging the wearer's noseand provided with downwardly open sockets on either side thereof whichreceive a permanent magnet bar for attracting airborne metallicparticles and preventing inhalation of steel filings, or the like.

This invention is believed distinctive over this patent by providing asection of magnetic flexible sheet material which is bonded to the innersurface of a welder's eye shield and face mask for attracting minuteairborne metallic particles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A generally rectangular section of flexible sheet material, havingmagnetic properties, is dimensioned to span the inner surface of theface shielding portion of a welder's mask. The section of sheet materialis provided with a substantially U-shaped opening in one of its ends andis bonded by adhesive to the inner surface of a welder's face mask withthe U-shaped end portion surrounding three sides of the lens coveredopening.

The principal object is to provide a lung protector for a welder's facemask in which a sheet of flexible magnetic material is bonded to theinner surface of the face mask for magnetically attracting airbornemetallic particles and thus clean the air breathed by the welder.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a substantially conventional welder'seye shield and face mask illustrating, by dotted lines, the relativeposition of the device when installed thereon;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the device, per se; and,

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical cross sectional view takensubstantially along the line 3--3 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Like characters of reference designate like parts in those figures ofthe drawings in which they occur.

In the drawings:

The reference numeral 10 indicates a substantially conventional welder'sface mask having an elongated front panel portion 12 integrally joinedto side members 14, only one being shown, pivotally connected withheadbands 16 for supporting the face mask forwardly of the welder's faceand permitting vertical upward movement of the face mask to anout-of-the-way position. The panel 12 is provided with an openingcovered by a lens 18 for shielding the welder's eyes from infrared andultraviolet rays generated by the welding action. The above descriptionof a face mask is set forth to show the combination with which the lungprotector 20 is intended to be used.

The lung protector 20 comprises a substantially rectangular section offlexible sheet material 22 formed by a layer of rubber 24, or the like,having magnetic properties for attracting metallic particles, not shown,or provided on one of its flat surfaces with a layer of magneticmaterial 26. The opposite flat surface of the section 22 is providedwith a layer of adhesive, indicated by the heavy line 28 (FIG. 3),having an overlying relatively thin peel-off backing 30 for maintainingthe adhesive properties of the adhesive layer 28. The sheet materialsection 22 is preferably provided with a generally U-shaped opening 32extending inwardly from one of its ends defining legs 34. Transverselythe section 22 is preferably substantially coextensive with the width ofthe face panel 12. The length of the section 22, between the bottom ofthe U-shaped opening, defined by the line 36, and the opposite end ofthe section 22, is preferably coextensive with the spacing between thelens covered opening and the depending end of the face panel 12. Thelength of the leg portions 34 is preferably substantially equal to thevertical dimension of the lens covered opening.

OPERATION

In operation, the lung protector 20 is formed substantially as shown anddescribed and is applied to the inner surface of the face mask panel 12by peeling off the adhesive layer protective cover 30 and flatlyapplying the device 20 to the inner surface of the panel 12 with theadhesive layer 28 in contiguous contact therewith. Since the innersurface of the face mask panel 12, with the lung protector 20 attachedthereto, is normally maintained during a welding action in close spacedrelation with respect to the welder's nose and mouth, air drawn into thewelder's lungs is substantially rendered clear of airborne metallicparticles.

Obviously the invention is susceptible to changes or alterations withoutdefeating its practicability. Therefore, I do not wish to be confined tothe preferred embodiment shown in the drawings and described herein.

I claim:
 1. In a welder's face mask including a panel portion verticallyand horizontally at least coextensive with corresponding dimensions of awelder's face and provided with a welding light eye protective lenscovered opening in its upward end portion and having an inner surfaceadjacent a welder's face when in use, the improvement comprising:a layerof magnetic material bonded to the inner surface of said panel portionand extending upwardly from its depending end to at least the dependinglimit of the lens covered opening.
 2. The combination according to claim1 in which said layer comprises:a section of flexible sheet materialhaving magnetic material particles imbedded therein and having anadhesive coating on one of its flat surfaces, said adhesive coatingadhesively joining said sheet material to said panel portion.
 3. Thecombination according to claim 2 in which said section of sheet materialencompasses at least three marginal edges of said lens covered opening.